Agree to Disagree?

Guest post by Amanda Castro

Facebook is a plethora of obscure knowledge and people who claim to know a great deal of things that in reality they don’t. I’m not picking on people needlessly and I know I’ve made my fair share of Internet mistakes. Today’s debatable point came from those odd polls asking you questions that you would see on a standardized test. Once you answer it, all your friends know it, and they too can answer. The one that my friend answered that prompted my response was,

2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 – 2 + 2 x 0 = ?

I couldn’t pass it up. I hold a BS in Mathematics, my nerdy compulsions begged me to answer. After making sure I caught the subtraction and multiplication I checked my math and got 26. I then went forward with my mind numbing time on Facebook. Then my aunt starts chatting with me and tells me I was clearly wrong; everyone knows anything multiplied by zero is zero. The truth is, she’s right … except in this case when she’s wrong. So I explain how the multiplication in this problem is only with the last two rather than the whole problem. I then explained the order of Mathematics (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction). She told me “Well then let’s agree to disagree,” and logs off.

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

I was quite upset. I knew I was right, I have the ability to gently correct further Mathematical errors and she wouldn’t listen. How dare I push my beliefs on her?

I use this to prove a point; although there are many ways to solve a problem, ultimately there is one answer that is correct. The same can be said about religion. Jesus said to His Disciples,

[…] “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14: 6-7

As Catholics, we believe that we have the fullness of the truth that Jesus imparted to His followers. Yes, there have been splinters of Christianity and there are many non-Christian religions, but they all contain some form of truth. Even if someone just believes that there is a governing, higher power; they hold a piece of truth. Although this truth may have been obscured, it is still truth.*

Through Christ’s command of “go make disciples of all nations,” we are obligated to share what we know and hold to be true as Catholics. It is our duty and responsibility.

The missionary mandate. “Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be ‘the universal sacrament of salvation,’ the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men”: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 849)

So while it feels isolating and awkward to bring up the matters of faith and religion, we can at least stand up when we hear someone misinterpreting Catholic teaching or holding on to false beliefs regarding Catholics. However we should not be made to agree to disagree.

*For further reading please see the Catechism of the Catholic Church 830 – 848


Amanda is a Youth Minister and Director of Religious Education at a small rural Iowa parish. Some of her students have begun a crusade to try and stump their youth minister, even so far as asking the local Bishop for help. If they could have remembered the Latin they would have succeeded too! Aside from being happily newly married to her best friend, her passions include (but are not limited too) her 9 nieces and nephews, the Mass, Adoration, and photography. You can find her new blog at Defined by Faith.

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10 thoughts on “Agree to Disagree?”

  1. Exactly what I needed to hear today. I’ve recently been having conversations about the place of marriage in the world and have been tiptoeing around bringing up the religious bit.

  2. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve had to explain to people (mostly on the Internet) that there is a such thing as universal truth. What’s truly uncomfortable is how so many “Christians” need to have this explained to them.

    Could this be idolatry? For how can one believe in God without believing in universal truth? As a mathematician/physicist explained in an article I gave to a Richard Dawkins disciple, the fact that there are universal laws in physics and math are proof that there is a universal truth ordering the whole universe, and as Augustine says, if there is a universal truth that lies above our ability to reason, then we in turn must admit the presence of a higher power governing our whole universe, and who is the source to our very existence.

    Yet there are still plenty Christians who read a line of very clear words of Jesus, Moses, Paul, etc. and interpret the words as archaic or symbolic, or interpret away the indisputable direct meaning of the words. The irony is that it’s the sola scripturist Christians who do this most frequently.

  3. Thank you very much for your comments.

    Allie: Personally I think that marriage and religion is something that can’t be avoided. When it comes up for me like this, I take it a moment at a time and look for opportunities to speak gently and use to to teach rather than argue.

    Colin: What you said reminds me of a Podcast a priest friend of mine had. If I could remember when it was I would share it with you. He records all of his Sunday homilies and posts them. He is the priest for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. It is a early podcast if you are interested in finding it.

  4. @Colin: having shared your experience, I found the simplest way to address those who deny there is such thing as universal truth is to ask a question. “Are you absolutely certain about that?”

  5. Totally agree with you. Modern society is based on the assumption that all truth is inherently subjective. What works for you may not work for someone else. It’s a dangerously tempting but ultimately purposeless position. Good article.

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